The Evolution Of Screens In Gaming

Our generation has grown up with video games consoles. I think most could even go as far as to say that gaming was a pivotal part of their childhoods. If you didn’t have a Nintendo, Megadrive or Atari (depending on the decade you grew up in), you almost certainly had a Game Boy or Game Gear.

With the evolution of gaming, we’ve also seen the displays and screens evolve hugely. When the first games console was debuted in 1967 (as a working prototype), it connected to a television. The years that followed saw models from Magnavox and Atari with a similar set-up. Not much different there then.

The Vectrex though, released in 1982, had its own screen which displayed vector graphics (much like arcade games). Although it displayed in black and white, it used a coloured plastic overlay to simulate a coloured display. Modern stuff, eh?

Through the 90s, most games consoles stuck with the television connection, while the Virtual Boy by Nintendo, launched in 1995, included a head-mounted display which allowed the player to see 3D graphics. Although praised for its novelty, the Virtual Boy was found to be asocial, as its display meant it could only be played by one person at a time.

Today, the main competitors are the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360. With the Wii’s innovative sensor remote and full 1080p HD graphics on the Xbox 360, video gaming has definitely grown up. More and more often, we’re also now seeing gaming as a family or group activity. Games such as Wii Sports, Rock Band and SingStar are encouraging us to socialise and play games together.

TV technology has followed suit and we now have the option of plasma, LCD, LED and OLED TVs. An OLED TV uses Organic Light Emitting Diodes so the screen is brighter and has better refresh rates and colour reproduction than LCD or plasma screens. The OLED also has a better response time which is a measure in milliseconds of how quickly pixels change colour. The lower the response time the better: if it’s too high, fast moving objects and action scenes will appear blurry. It’s important to maximise your experience if you don’t want any ghosting.

When considering TV screens, look out for any extra built in features aimed at gamers. The 55-inch OLED smart TV from LG, for example, has an advanced dual play option which allows each player to see the game from their own viewpoint in full screen when wearing dual play glasses. See it in action in this video:

And of course, more and more games are being designed with a focus on 3D gaming, a feature that is becoming prominent in consumer households. The future of games and their displays is exciting – with the fast advancements in technology and lifelike picture quality, it won’t be long before reality and gaming worlds blur…

This post was provided by LG Electronics, bringing awesome visual effects and a great picture experience into your home.

The Editor-in-Chief at Kitana Media Network. It's about the game, not the platform. Metal Gear fanatic. Hideo Kojima is God. Loves football. Why not follow him on Twitter (see below) and read his day-to-day ramblings. It's mostly about football and gaming!